Spring ejecting tool



May 23, 1950 w. D. WHITNEY SPRING EJECTING TOOL Filed Dec. 29, 1945 IN VEN TOR. W4; 7'5? 17. W/l/T/Vfy Patented May 23, 1950 UNITED PATENT OFFICE Thi inv nti n r la es t9 a pecial moi e:

igned tor ejectin an ar uate retai n spr ngmma i i n in he, n rr w slat i ub that s. adapt d o be s ur d on to a spin le by a d spri I :c rtain aut m i es theldoor h ndles have hu her n ha rece ves an end o therotary spin le. that in turn. actuat s t e latch.- The spindle. is. nnu a y g q ed nd h ha i ot d in a m nne so t at an situat wire sh ine may h l pp d. nto he slot ith s. ends. in: the gr o e t e. spin l at op o ite sid s. berecf- Th s t e sp in wil held t handle nto the spin l These springs are. ea y to in: ertrabut hou s have been spent- .in h pa a tempt n o mo t em in, e sie o. re la e heha l r l ch-V The ain obie t o e in nt en i the pie vision of a tool that is easily manipulated' for re vi a sp i g f t a o r ct r within several seconds time.

In t e draw ng Fig. 1 is an enlarged sectional view taken along line ll' of Fig. 4 showns the spring to be removed in position for holding the spindle and door handle together, the spring engaging elements on the tool of this invention ibeing indica d in ition io remov n the spr Fig. 2 is an elevational 'view of the tool.

Fig. 31s an edge view of the tool.

Fig. 14 is a part sectional, part elevational yiew Qffl door loci; and handle heldtpgether by the spring In detail, pertain automobiles ,are proyided with o s. ea of which ar es a entlqnal latc op ati mechanism in hou which mechanism includes a rotatable spindle 2pm.: jecting from said housing for securement of a door handle 3 thereto. The handle is integrally formed with a hub 4, which hub is interiorly grooved axially thereof complementarily to grooves 5 on the spindle (Fig. 4) so as to prevent turning of the hub relative to the spindle.

The spindle '2 is also formed with an annular groove 6 in its outer side and the hub 4 is formed with opposed slots 1 in opposite sides thereof communicating with groove 8 (Fig. 4). A segment 8 connects one of the corresponding ends of the slot, and as seen in Fig. 4, a groove 9 is formed in the outer side of said segment. The opposite ends of slots 1 are connected bya larger segment l0 (Fig. 1) of the hub, which segment is formed with inclined surfaces II extending generally radially relative to the axis of the hub.

2 An a-rcuate wire spring- I2 is provided-for securing the said hub on-the spindle, said spring being open at one side to passover the segment 1,

and the opposite end portions [3 of the spring:

extend divergenl' jy outwardly to positions over the inclined faces ll of the hub segment in when the portions of said springs adjacent said 'por tions and at their junctures with the arcuate portion of the spring are in groove 6. Thus the spring prevents the handle from coming off the spindle. 1

The central portion of the spring l2 is in groove 9 and as the slots 1 and groove 9 are 01' a width only sufficient to receive the spring l2, it will be seen that the spring is well concealed and while easy to insert, is inaccessible for removal by ordinary methods. To complicate the.

matter still further, the adjacent surface of the wall of the door (not shown) is generally almost even with the end of hub 4 leaving practically no space in which to work.

The invention herein illustrated comprises a pl-ier type of tool having arms 20, 2| that are pivoted together at 22 (Fig. 2) and jaws 23, '24 are formed integral with and in extension of said arms, said jaws being movable generally towards and away from each other upon cor-re:- sponding movement of the arms 20, 2!. Handles '25 in longitudinal extension of arms 20, 2| are adapted to be gripped manually for causing such swinging ofgsa-id arms and jaws.

When the jaws are in closed position, as seen in Fig. 2, the handles are preferably parallel, and arm 20 is curved to cross arm 2 l' at an angle and so that jaw 24 also extends at an angle to arm 2| at the side of the latter opposite arm 20.

Jaw 23 terminates at its outer end in a return bend portion 26, the outer end of which is directed toward the jaw 24 and generally toward the handles 25. This jaw 23 and the outer end of the return bend are spaced a substantial distance outwardly of the jaw '24 relative to pivot 22.

The terminating outer end of the return bend 26 is formed with a notch '2! providing a pointed tooth 28 at one side of the notch directed generally toward jaw 24, and the opposite side 29 of the notch provides a shoulder for a purpose later to be described.

The jaw 24 terminates at its outer end in a pointed tooth 30, the pointed end of which is generally directed toward the outer end of jaw 23.

Inasmuch as the jaw 24 is much shorter than jaw 29, the tooth 30 will describe an arc of substantially less diameter than the are of the tooth 3 28, and neither of said jaws or teeth are or can be moved into engagement with each other.

In actual practice the return bend 26 of the jaw 23 is inserted into one of the slots I so that the terminating end of one end portion l3 of the spring l2 will engage shoulder 29, and at substantially the same time, the tooth 28 will substantially engage the spring at the juncture between said portion l3 and the arcuate part of said spring (Fig. l). The jaw 24 is then inserted in the slot 1 that is at the other side of the spindle, and the pointed end will slide on the slanted face ll of the segment of hub 2 to a position where any further movement of the tooth toward the spindle will cause the tooth to slide below the end portion I3 of said spring and to thereby effect an expanding of the spring l2 as said end portion l3 rides over tooth 30. The spring is instantly sprung out of the slots as soon as the ends adjacent portions l3 clear the spindle.

-When the jaws of the tool are in the position indicated in Fig. 1, the handles are at one side of handle 3 of the door, so there is no interference by the latter to actuation of handles 25.

It is further important to note that the jaws 23, including the return bend 26 and the teeth 28, 39, are all flat and coplanar. Their thickness is substantialy that of spring [2 and only enough less than the width of slots 7 to permit the ends of the jaws to freely enter said slots.

vBy bending the jaw 23 along line 35, the said.

jaw is offset to lie in the same plane as theplane of jaw 24.

The arms 20, 2| are preferably bent along lines 36 so that handles 25 are disposed in a, plane extending at an angle to the plane in which jaws 23, 24 are'disposed. This permits the operator to manipulate the handles 25 without interference from the door that carries the handle 3. Otherwise the operator would have difficulty in getting the jaws into the slots 1 because of inadequate room for holding the tool. 7

While the provision of the notch 21 in the return bend 26 of jaw 23 is preferable, it is possible to make modifications of this shape, such as removing the shoulder 29 or the point 28, but not both.

I claim:

1. A tool for removing an arcuate retainer spring'from a spindle in which opposite ends of said spring extend divergently from each other at opposite sides of such spindle, said tool comprising a pair of crossed levers pivoted intermediate their length providing a pair of handles at one side of said pivot and a pair of divergent lever extensions at the other side of said pivot, one extension of the pair thereof being substantially longer than the other extension and carrying a jaw formed by a short return bend of said one extension at its end remote from said pivot with said return bend terminating in a pointed end directed backwardly generally toward the free end of the other extension, said pointed end forming an abutment to hold one end of a spring retainer, the other extension of said pair terminating in a wedge shaped jaw that is generally directed toward said first Jaw, said pivot, extensions and jaws beingso related that as said handles are moved toward'parallel position and said abutment jaw is engaging one end of a spring retainer said wedge shaped jaw will move in an arcuate path toward said abutment jaw to engage the other end of a spring retainer to cam the same off its spindle.

I 2. A tool for removing an arcuate retainer spring from a spindle in which opposite ends of saidspring extend divergently from each other at opposite sides of such spindle, said tool comprising a pair of crossed levers pivoted intermediate their length providing a pair of handles at one side of said pivot and a pair of divergent coplanar lever extensions at the other side of said pivot, one extension of the pair thereof being substantially longer than the other extension and carrying a jaw formed by a short return bend of said one extension at its end remote from said pivot with said return bend terminating in a pointed end directed backwardly generally toward the free end of the other extension, said pointed end forming an abutment to hold one end of a spring retainer, the other extension of said pair terminating in a wedge shaped jaw that is generally directed toward said" first jaw, said pivot, extensions and jaws being so related that as said handles are moved to-' ward each other and said abutment jaw is engaging one end of a spring retainer said wedge shaped jaw will move in an arcuate path toward said abutment jaw to engage the other end of a spring retainer to cam the same off its spindle.

V WALTER D. WHITNEY.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,297,765 Hoover Oct. 6, 

